Zidane scored twice with his head in France’s 1998 World Cup final victory over Brazil. Yet his appeal here is the feeling that a crowded midfield can become orderly with one touch. We place him eighth for control, invention and his strongest big-match performances. His supporters will call that far too low. The reply is consistency: our criteria also reward sustained influence across many seasons, not only unforgettable evenings. If you would choose a player for one decisive final rather than a whole era, Zidane could leap several places.
Source: FIFA.
Photo: Walterlan Papetti · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and recompressed; same license.
